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Healthy pinta

MIDDLE-AGED men who drink milk may be less prone to strokes, a report in
the journal Stroke suggests. The unexpected finding comes from a study
to assess the role of calcium in preventing stroke.

At the beginning of the study, researchers recorded the intake of dietary
sources of calcium—including milk—of more than 3000 men, aged
between 55 and 68, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. After following the group for
22 years they concluded that overall calcium intake did not alter the risk of
stroke. However, they found that only 3.7 per cent of men who drank at least
half a litre of milk every day had the most common type of stroke, compared with
7.9 per cent of those who drank less milk.

“This was an unintentional finding, and we can’t really explain it,” says
Robert Abbott at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. However he does
point out that milk drinkers were leaner and more active than the other men, so
their healthier lifestyle could offer some degree of protection.